Justin Wolfers, an economist at the University of Michigan, took a far less measured approach to objecting to Bessent’s statement and simply said, “Transparently lying won’t calm markets, businesses, or consumers.”
Non-economists also piled on Bessent’s attempts to blame Biden.
“Lying in such a cartoonishly obvious way comes across as extremely stupid hard to believe he’s this bad at public advocacy for the administration he serves,” observed journalist John Harwood.
Writing on BlueSky, the Daily Kos’s Oliver Willis posted a simple chart showing a boom in manufacturing construction that occurred during Biden’s presidency and said sarcatically, “Look at how hard manufacturing was hit under socialist Sleepy Joe.”
She previously refused to divulge exactly how much her extensive travel was costing taxpayers. But after assuming her new post, nominated by Trump himself, the number has emerged, and it is shocking.
The Associated Press recently analyzed Noem’s travel records, and determined that she had accrued more than $150,000 in expenses tied to her political and personal activity. The records include several trips to Palm Beach, Florida, where Trump stayed at his Mar-a-Lago resort before taking office.
During Noem’s six years as governor – from 2018 until 2024 – AP found that South Dakota covered more than $640,000 in travel-related costs incurred by the governor’s office.
Some of the trips included $7,555 in airfare for a six-day trip to Paris, where she spoke at a right-wing gathering. It also included a bear hunt in Canada with her niece, and a book tour that involved a stop in New York.
For some of the trips, it was unclear whether it was for professional or personal reasons. One in particular that drew backlash was a $2,200 charge associated with a trip to Houston for dental work, that she showcased on Instagram.
The expenses were officially released last month, following a lawsuit by The Dakota Scout. Since then, several Republican politicians have accused Noem of using state funds to help bolster her own political career.
The Trump administration has been dedicated to tackling waste, fraud, and abuse in government, according to the AP.
Start by firing Bimbo #2 Kristi Noem!
Noem was recently slammed for being “tone deaf” on a trip to a prison in El Salvador, sporting a $50,000 Rolex watch. She also filmed a video inside the prison, with prisoners in crowded conditions in the background.
Kristi Noem slammed for staggering travel expenses footed by taxpayers
Kristi Noem, who previously served as the governor of South Dakota, has come under fire after her travel expenses were publicized, leading fellow GOP lawmakers to call her out
Canadian actress Jasmine Mooney said she felt like she had been kidnapped and forced to take part in “some sort of insane . . . psychological, social experiment”. She spent 12 days in detention after trying to renew an expired work visa at a border.
Avoid Trump’s Amerika. You’ll be sorry if you don’t.
Others have included Becky Burke, a Welsh backpacker who was detained for 19 days. Her parents complained she was taken to the airport for deportation “in leg chains, waist chains and handcuffs” after being accused of travelling on the wrong visa. “She’s not Hannibal Lecter,” her father Paul Burke told the BBC.
Avoid Trump’s Amerika. You’ll be sorry if you don’t.
Lucas Sielaff was in a car queue waiting to cross from Mexico into the US when a border guard, seeing his German passport, began bombarding him with questions.
The 25-year-old tourist, who had been travelling with his American fiancée, was shackled, taken in for questioning, and then interrogated for hours. He spent 16 days in detention before being escorted to the airport and allowed to fly back to Germany earlier this month.
“I still have nightmares [about the experience] and I’m not yet back to normal,” Sielaff told the Financial Times. “I’m trying to process everything properly. It’ll take a while.”
Sielaff, who had a valid visa waiver entry permit and had visited the US several times previously, is one of a string of high-profile cases of European and Canadian tourists to have suffered hostile treatment at the hands of border guards since Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
Avoid Trump’s Amerika. You’ll be sorry if you don’t.